WORLDS: Matsukura back on top in round three [VIDEO]

0 Oct. 11, 2014, 10:03 a.m.

10/11/2014
By Aaron Waldron

LiveRC.com

The top three reverted back to the finishing order from the first round as Naoto Matsukura edged teammate Ronald Völker by less than two tenths of a second to win his second round in three tries. Marc Rheinard finished third for the third time in a row, and there were actually two cars in the top ten this time that were not either a Yokomo or a Tamiya!

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“It’s good, and has good feeling,” said Naoto Matsukura of his prototype Yokomo. The weather is “too much hot” he said, contributing to the low traction conditions. Despite setting the fastest time in Q3 the current Japanese National Champion said he needed “more safety” and would ask his mechanic to make further changes to the car. Rather than be more aggressive in a push to secure the overall TQ, Naoto said he’s now more relaxed now that he knows he’s locked into the final with one of the top two starting positions.

“It’s getting crazy hot, hotter than before,” said three-time champ Marc Rheinard of the escalating temperatures. “I just had no grip this time, sliding all over the place,” said Rheinard, who had two 18-second laps without making mistakes other than sliding across the track. He’ll make changes to his TRF419, either to the diff and/or shock oil, but wasn’t sure if he needed to go thinner or thicker on either or both to gain more grip. The German was elated to see the approaching cloud cover, which could help cool the track surface.

After struggling in the first round Viktor Wilck was relieved to run up front in the third round. “It was good, getting a little bit better,” said the German of his TRF419. Still, he said, “The gap to the front is still too much, so I need to find something.” Like teammate Rheinard, Wilck is struggling for grip. He said, “I was racing with Bruno (Coelho) and he had way more bite - he could punch it more.” Viktor wasn’t sure what to adjust but insisted that his car needed a change.

Top non-Yokomo or Tamiya driver Alexander Hagberg was asking himself the same question after finishing sixth with the XRAY T4 2015. “It was a little bit better,” said the Swede, “but not fast enough to challenge for the top three. It’s fast enough to make the top seven, but I want to improve so I will change it.” The European Champion needs more high-speed steering and will raise the front roll center.

Top twenty for round three:

Naoto Matsukura (JPN) - Yokomo/Yokomo/Yokomo/Yokomo - 17/5:02.118
Ronald Völker (DEU) - Yokomo/LRP/LRP/LRP - 17/5:02.280
Marc Rheinard (DEU) - Tamiya/Muchmore/Muchmore/Thunder Power - 17/5:05.871
Viktor Wilck (SWE) - Tamiya/Thunder Power/Thunder Power/Speed Passion - 17/5:06.165
Hayato Matsuzaki (JPN) - Yokomo/Yokomo/Yokomo/Yokomo - 17/5:06.703
Alexander Hagberg (SWE) - XRAY/ORCA/ORCA/ORCA - 17/5:06.780
Christopher Krapp (DEU) - Kyosho/Orion/Orion/Orion - 17/5:06.796
Jilles Groskamp (NLD) - Tamiya/Orion/Orion/Orion - 17/5:07.086
Atsushi Hara (JPN) - Yokomo/Hobbywing/Hobbywing/ProTek RC - 17/5:08.385
Bruno Coelho (PRT) - XRAY/Nosram/Nosram/Nosram - 17/5:09.212
Yannic Pruemper (DEU) - Yokomo/Muchmore/Muchmore/Muchmore - 17/5:09.265
Nicholas Lee (SIN) - Tamiya/Hobbywing/Hobbywing/ProTek RC - 17/5:09.482
Akio Sobue (JPN) - Tamiya/Muchmore/Muchmore/Muchmore - 17/5:09.484
Meen Vejrak (THA) - Yokomo/Hobbywing/Scorpion/LRP - 17/5:10.066
Elliott Harper (GBR) - Durango/ORCA/ORCA/ORCA - 17/5:10.307
Paul LeMieux (USA) - XRAY/Hobbywing/Thunder Power/Thunder Power - 17/5:10.344
Andy Moore (GBR) - HB/Hobbywing/Hobbywing/Reedy - 17/5:10.645
Frederik Sudhoff (DEU) - Awesomatix/LRP/LRP/LRP - 17/5:11.071
Juho Levanen (FIN) - Associated/Reedy/Reedy/Reedy 17/5:11.635
Loic Jasmin (FRA) - Yokomo/LRP/LRP/LRP - 17/5:12.918